12 Months!!

Austin Thomas, you are ONE!! What a great year its been!! Yes, the first three months are very exhausting like everyone warns...but this has definitely been the best year of our lives so far. Its a blessing and a privilege to be your parents and we love you to pieces!

See, I have hair! Its just so blonde that I look bald from far away!

We had your 1 year doctor appointment today and you are right on track. The 3 shots weren't fun, but its always nice to hear that you are doing well developmentally.
Height: 2' 6" (54%)
Weight: 19lb 8 oz (22%)

You are still wearing size 4 diapers and you wear 12 month clothes. Your 9 month pants still fit because your waist is so tiny, but you are definitely in 12-18 month pajamas and mostly 12 month shirts.

You have 3.5 teeth. The two bottom ones have been in since May or so and you have one giant front top tooth and the other top tooth is about halfway in.

Giant top tooth!

You still love to laugh and smile and are really into giving hugs and kisses lately. You will hug all of your neighbor friends everyday and you've even started to hug your stuffed animals.
Grannie taught you to do "cheers". If we say cheers, you stick your face out and wait for us to touch our forehead to yours - so cute!

Mexican food with your buddy, Knox!

Your favorite thing to do is to ride around the 'hood in your "auto" (aka your blue car). You point at the door and say "door auto," which means "lets go outside and ride in my auto."

Enjoying your auto on a Friday afternoon

You say a handful of words now: ball, door, auto, agua(water), dog, mama, dada, bird, balloon(sounds like ball). You recognize a lot more than that, but those are your favorites to say out loud.

First pair of shoes

You aren't walking yet, but you can stand alone for 15-20 seconds and you push your auto and your push cart all over the house and the street all day long. Soon....(but seriously no rush, buddy)! I can tell you are ready to be a big kid. When we play out on the street, you watch the big kids and try to push your cart after them.

Hanging with Jackson at Barnes and Noble

With the fun always comes a few hard days...this month you had a fever for about 2 days (so sad) which we think may have been very mild hand foot and mouth (don't worry friends, we quarantined ourselves). Your dad was also out of town 2 weekends in a row, so we were home alone all week and all weekend, which makes for a tired mama. You are also getting more independent and are starting to pitch little fits when you don't get what you want.

Hanging with Dr. Rogers in Little Italy

Your daily routine is pretty much the same as its been for the last few months:

6:45/7 - Wake and get milk right away. We just switched to whole milk yesterday and sippy cups today, so no more formula or bottles. We usually lay in bed for 30 minutes or so and play songs on the iPad while you drink your milk. Your favorite is B-I-N-G-O because of the dog. You can also tap and start the songs all by yourself. Scary how easy apple makes it for kids!

8- Breakfast - toast, yogurt, fruit, whole wheat pancakes

9:30-11 Nap - On weekdays after your nap, you and Jessi usually hang with your friend Jackson and eat lunch out, go to the park or the bookstore and take a walk. On weekends, we try to get out and do something fun during this time.

Noon - Lunch - noodles, leftovers (chicken, meat), bread and cheese, fruit, peas/carrots, packet of applesauce, cheerios, etc.

1/1:30 - 8oz whole milk again

2-3:30 - Nap. Unless you decide to boycott this one which happens at least once a week.

4:00 - Water and a small snack if needed. This is when we usually go out and hang with the neighborhood kids until dinner time.

5/5:30 - Dinner (similar food as lunch)

6:30 - Bath/Winddown/ More Milk

7/7:30 Bedtime

As always, we cannot wait to continue to watch you grow and develop. We wish time would slow down just a little bit, but I know that is every parent's wish.

Hanging in bed with Mama